No More Learning

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2. A FAILURE TO LAUNCH, IN AN ATHENIAN FAMILY
INTRODUCTION
Aristophanes, author of the document that follows, enjoyed a long and successful career as an Athenian comic playwright, in the late fifth and early fourth centuries BCE. His play Clouds, one of his earlier efforts, was staged around 423.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Aristophanes, like all the comic playwrights of his time, injected heavy doses of sat- ire into his plays, so that fact must always be kept in mind when reading or inter- preting his works. Nevertheless, even satire must be based on a foundation of truth, so there is clearly historical value in satirical writings.
2. The document is excerpted from the opening scenes of Aristophanes's play, in which an old Athenian man by the name of Strepsiades is lying in bed, tossing and turning and unable to sleep, because his spendthrift son, Phidippides, has wasted large sums of the family's money on chariot racing. The resulting indebtedness is becoming Strepsiades's problem, and he does not see how he will possibly be able to satisfy the family's growing list of creditors. The scene is thus set for a generational confron- tation between father and son: the father extols the virtues of thrift and hard work, whereas the son finds nothing wrong with having a good time--an expensively good time--down at the racetrack.
3. As in many Aristophanic comedies, the names of the principal characters are con- coctions of the playwright's imagination, and as such, they can often be translated. The name "Strepsiades" is related to the Greek word strepho, meaning "twist," or "turn," a word that is aptly descriptive of the old man's nocturnal woes. The son's name, Phidippides, is formed from a combination of the words pheido, "thrift," and hippos, "horse. " The hippos suffix also conveys a connotation of wealth, since only well-to-do individuals could afford to own and maintain horses. And the name is only one letter away from the word "Philippides," which would mean "lover of horses," also a fitting moniker for the son.
4. The "city life versus country life" theme is raised in one of Strepsiades's early speeches, where he laments having married a city woman who knew nothing of the simple pleasures of country living that Strepsiades had enjoyed before their union.
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Amynias: Apparently a kind of a low- life character, who appeared in Aristophanes's play Wasps, as well as in plays by other contemporary writers.
bailiff: The Greek word demarchos, or demarch, here translated as "bail- iff," was literally the chief officer of an Athenian deme, or adminis- trative district. According to K. J. Dover, the demarch "had the custody of the official list of members of the deme. . . he was responsible for exacting the rents on land leased by the deme to indi- viduals . . . and it is a fair inference from this passage that he had the authority to enforce the surrender of securities by a debtor to a private creditor. "
Coesyrized: A reference to the mother of Megacles, Coisyra, who was apparently a typically arrogant member of the upper classes of sophisticated Athenian society.
Colias and Genetyllis: According to Jeffrey Henderson, "Colias was the name of an Attic promontory where women held festivals for Aphrodite and the Genetyllides, goddesses of procreation. "
hack: Koppatian, a kind of horse branded with the Greek letter koppa.
the moon in her twenties: More than 20 days into the month, with bills due and payable at the end of the month.
oil: Lamps were fueled by olive oil. Pasias: Otherwise unknown. This might be one of Aristophanes's invented names. There was a remarkably successful Athenian banker named Pasio (d. 370 BCE), but it seems unlikely that there is any connection between him and
the Pasias mentioned in the play.
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Document: A Father-Son
Heart-to-Heart
(Strepsiades and Phidippides lie sleeping. Strepsiades sits up restlessly. )
STREPSIADES:
Oh dear, oh dear! Lord Zeus, what a stretch of nighttime! Interminable. Will it never be day? I did hear a rooster crow quite a while back, but the slaves are snoring. They wouldn't in the old days. Damn you, War, for my many worries, when I can't even punish my slaves! And this fine young man here won't rouse himself before daybreak either, but farts away wrapped up in five woolen coverlets. All right, then, let's all get under the covers and snore! No use, I can't get to sleep, poor soul. I'm being eaten alive by my bills and stable fees and debts, on account of this son of mine. He wears his hair long and rides horses and races chariots, and he even dreams about horses, while I go to pieces as I watch the moon in her twenties, because my interest payment looms just ahead. [Addressing a slave:] Boy! Light a lamp, and bring me my ledger book, so
I can count my creditors and reckon the interest. Let's see, what do I owe? Twelve minas to Pasias? What were the twelve minas to Pasias for? What did I use it for? When I bought that branded hack. Oh me, oh my! I wish I'd had my eye knocked out with a stone . . . But what arrears overtook me after Pasias? Three minas to Amynias for a small seat and a pair of wheels. . .
Really, father, why do you grouse and toss all night long?
There's a bailiff in the bedclothes biting me. For heaven's sake, let me catch a little sleep. All right then, sleep! But bear in mind, all these debts will end up on your head. Ah, I wish she'd died a terrible death, that matchmaker who talked me into marrying your mother! Mine was a very pleasant country life, moldy, unswept, aimlessly leisured, abounding in honey
PHIDIPPIDES (awakening): STREPSIADES: PHIDIPPIDES: STREPSIADES:
bees, sheep, and olive cakes. Then
I married the niece of Megacles, son of Megacles, I a rustic, she from town, haughty, spoiled, thoroughly Coesyrized. When I married her
I climbed into bed smelling of new wine, figs, fleeces, and abundance; and she of perfume, saffron, tongue kisses, extravagance, gluttony, Colias and Genetyllis. But still, I won't say she was lazy; she used plenty of thread when she wove. I used to show her this cloak of mine as proof and say, "Woman, you go too heavy on the thread! "
SLAVE: We've got no oil in the lamp. STREPSIADES: Damn it, why did you light me the thirsty
lamp? Come here and take your beating. SLAVE: Why should I get a beating, then?
STREPSIADES: Because you put in one of the thick wicks! The slave runs inside. After that,
when this son was born to us, I mean to me and my high-class wife, we started to bicker over his name. She was for adding hippos ["horse," connoting elevated social status] to the name, Xanthippus or Chaerrippus or Callippides, while I was for calling him Phidonides after his grandfather. So for a while we argued, until finally we compromised and called him Phidippides. She used to pick up this boy and coo at him, "When you're grown you'll drive a chariot to the Acropolis, like Megacles, and don a saf- fron robe. " And I would say, "No, you'll drive the goats from the Rocky Bottom, like your father, and wear a leather jacket. " But he wouldn't listen to any- thing I said; instead, he's infected my estate with the galloping trots. So now I've spent the whole night thinking of a way out, and I've found a singular short- cut, devilishly marvelous [i. e. , his idea of enrolling Phidippides in Socrates's school]. If I can talk this boy into it, I'll be saved. " [Tr. Jeffrey Henderson. Aristophanes: Clouds; Wasps; Peace. (Lines 1-24; 30-31; 35-78. ) LCL, 1998. Page numbers: 11, 13, 15, 17. ]
A Failure to Launch, in an Athenian Family
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? punish my slaves: He fears that they might flee from him, and possibly wind up in Sparta.
Rocky Bottom: Phelleus in Greek; an area around Athens featuring stony ground covered with porous rocks, like lava. According to Plato, it was not always that way, but in bygone days it was a fertile area, rich with arable soil and heavily forested hills and mountains sur- rounding it.
thirsty lamp: The Greek word potes, "thirsty," is sometimes used to describe a person who drinks to excess, a hard drinker. When Strepsiades uses the word in con- nection with a lamp, it conjures up modern images of cars that get poor mileage: "gas guzzlers. " So Strepsiades's lamp is apparently an "oil guzzler. "
to the Acropolis: The reference is appa- rently to the annual Panathenaic fes- tival and the great procession "to the Acropolis"; the procession featured chariots, women carrying sacred relics, young people leading sacrifi- cial animals, and soldiers mounted on horseback. The Acropolis was the citadel of Athens, on which stood the Parthenon and many other famous buildings.
unswept: From the Greek word akore- tos, which literally means "unsated," but here translated as "unswept. " In this context, however, it seems to mean something like "unboth- ered," a reference to Strepsiades's carefree country lifestyle--before he met his city-bred wife!
War: A reference to the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), principally between the city-states of Athens and Sparta. Aristophanes stingingly satirized this war in his plays Acharnians, Lysistrata, and Peace.
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? "MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER"
Strepsiades's wish for the matchmaker who saddled him with his wife is not too harsh; he only wants her to suf- fer a "terrible death"! Although the role of matchmakers (promnestriai) in arranging marriages was apparently quite well established in Athenian society, matchmakers are surprisingly not well attested in Greek literature. Xenophon's brief discussion of the topic is also one of the most detailed. He puts these words into the mouth of Socrates, in a dialogue in his Memorabilia [2. 36]: "good matchmakers are successful in making marriages only when the good reports they carry to and fro are true; false reports [are not recommended], for the victims of deception hate one another and the matchmaker too. " [Xenophon. Memorabilia 2. 6; tr. Marchant. ]
It seems clear that Strepsiades considered himself a "victim of deception," because he hated both his wife, and the matchmaker who paired them up.
? ? ? AFTERMATH
Strepsiades has an inspiration, a way to get out of debt and get his son under control at the same time: enroll the boy in Socrates's new school, the "Thinkery," which reportedly teaches its clients how to win arguments by devious reasoning. Strepsiades hopes that his son will learn how to initiate legal actions that will enable him to extricate himself from his mounting debts. Phidippides at first refuses to attend the school--he would rather work on his suntan! --but eventually, he agrees. The lessons backfire, however, when father and son quarrel over whether it is proper for a son to beat his father and mother. Phidippides argues that a son does have that right; he has learned sophistic reasoning all too well. Strepsiades thus comes to the conclusion that it would be wrong to cheat one's creditors by using the convoluted reasoning and decep- tive argumentation techniques taught in the Thinkery. The play ends with Strepsiades and his slaves setting the Thinkery on fire.
ASK YOURSELF
1. What is it that keeps Strepsiades tossing and turning all night long, and unable to sleep? What does he seem to think would be the best way to solve this problem?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? THE OTHER PHIDIPPIDES
There was a famous Athenian long distance runner by the name of Phidippides, whose two days of fame came during the first Persian invasion of Greece, in 490 BCE. The Athenians, not wishing to face the full force of the Persian army alone, sent an appeal to Sparta for help. Their desperate message was delivered by Phidippides-- on foot! According to the historian Herodotus, he arrived in Sparta the day after he left Athens, thus covering the distance between the two famous polises, 150 miles, in two days. Although the Spartans refused the Athenian request, Athens nonetheless prevailed against the Persians, at the Battle of Marathon. Legend has it that a messenger ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory. For reasons which are not entirely clear, Phidippides has been popularly associated with this first "Marathon run," but it was not he; the runner's name is given in Plutarch as Eucles.
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2. How would you describe Strepsiades's relationship with his wife? With his son? Do you think that he was a good father and husband?
3. Strepsiades is obviously concerned about his cash flow. What are some of the actions that he thinks could be taken to reduce household expenses?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e Strepsiades is portrayed as wrestling with some serious debt and family problems. Do you think his situation was typical of that which confronted many fifth-century Athenians of his socioeconomic group?
e Strepsiades seems to be making a point about differences in social status when he remarks that his wife had expectations that Phidippides would one day drive a chariot in the prestigious Panathenaic festival, whereas Strepsiades thinks it more likely that the boy would be herding goats in the Rocky Bottom. How do you suppose an Athenian audience would react to the comparison between the Panathenaic festival and Rocky Bottom? Of the two possible futures in store for Phidippides (chariot driv- ing or goat herding), which one do you think would be more likely to occur? Why?
e Satire, whether ancient or modern, almost always contains elements of exaggeration. What portrayals (of people or events) in the document seem exaggerated to you? Can you think of any modern satirists to whom Aristophanes might be compared?
Further Information
Dover, Kenneth J. Aristophanic Comedy. Berkeley, CA, 1972.
Ehrenberg, Victor. The People of Aristophanes: A Sociology of Old Attic Comedy. Oxford,
1943.
Harriott, Rosemary. Aristophanes, Poet and Dramatist. Baltimore, 1986. Murray, Gilbert. Aristophanes: A Study. Oxford, 1933.
Strauss, Leo. Socrates and Aristophanes. Chicago, 1996.
Websites
The Clouds: An Analysis of the Play by Aristophanes. http://www. theatrehistory. com/ ancient/bates025. html
On Satire in Aristophanes's The Clouds [especially section "J"]. http://records. viu. ca/~johnstoi/ introser/clouds. htm
Bibliography for Document
Dover, Kenneth J. Aristophanes. Clouds. Oxford, 1968.
Feder, Lillian. Apollo Handbook of Classical Literature. New York, 1964.
Henderson, Jeffrey (tr. ). Aristophanes: Clouds; Wasps; Peace. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London,
1998.
Marchant, E. C. (tr. ). Xenophon: Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. [LCL. ] Cambridge and
London, 1923.
A Failure to Launch, in an Athenian Family
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3. EVEN IN ANCIENT ROME, THE DOG WAS MAN'S --AND WOMAN'S--BEST FRIEND
INTRODUCTION
The Romans enjoyed keeping all manner of creatures as pets, but dogs seemed to be one of their favorite choices for four-footed companionship. The naturalist Pliny the Elder provides an account of these noble animals.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Pliny, as a scientist, writes in an objective, nonemotional style, but a careful reading of his canine descriptions reveals an author who appreciated and respected the intel- ligence and loyalty of these animals.
2. In addition to their role as domestic pets, many dogs were put to work, especially on farms, in hunting, and as watchdogs.
3. Pliny the Elder's writings often contain a mixture of scientific data and supporting anecdotal information that illustrates or confirms the data. His discussion of dogs conforms to that pattern.
Document: Pliny Expounds on Canine Appeal
Many . . . domestic animals are worth studying, and before all, the one[s] most faithful to man: the dog, and the horse. We are told of a dog that fought against brigands in defense of his master and although covered with wounds would not leave his corpse, driving away birds and beasts of prey; and of another dog in Epirus [in Greece] that recognized his master's murderer in a gathering and by snapping and barking made him confess the crime. [Here follows an account of heroic dogs in other cultures. ]
Among ourselves, the famous Vulcatius, Cascellius's tutor in civil law, when returning on his cob from his place near Rome after nightfall was defended by his dog from a highwayman; and so was the senator Caelius, an invalid, when set upon by armed men at Piacenza [a northern Italian town], and he did not receive a wound till the dog had been [done away with]. But above all cases, in
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
our own generation, it is attested by the National Records that in the consulship [28 CE] of Appius Julius and Publius Silius when as a result of the case of Germanicus's son Nero, punishment was visited on Titius Sabinus and his slaves, a dog belonging to one of them could not be driven away from him in prison and when he had been flung out on the Steps of Lamentation would not leave his body, uttering sor- rowful howls to the vast concourse of the Roman public around, and when one of them threw it food, it carried it to the mouth of its dead master. Also, when his corpse had been thrown into the Tiber, it swam to it and tried to keep it afloat, a great crowd streaming out to view the animal's loyalty.
Dogs alone know their master, and also recognize a sudden arrival as a stranger. They alone recognize their own names, and the voice of a member of the house- hold. They remember the way to places however distant, and no creature [except for humans] has a longer memory. Their onset [i. e. , an attack] and rage can be mollified by a person sitting down on the ground. Experience daily discovers very many other qualities in these animals, but it is in hunting that their skill and sagacity is most outstanding. A hound traces and follows footprints, dragging by its leash the tracker that accom- panies it towards his quarry. And on sighting it how silent and secret but how significant an indication is given first by the tail and then by the muzzle! Consequently, even when they are exhausted with old age and blind and weak, men carry them in their arms, sniffing at the breezes and scents and pointing their muzzles towards cover. [Tr. H. Rackham. Pliny: Natural History. (8. 144-147). Volume III. LCL, 1940. Page numbers: 101, 103, 105. ]
AFTERMATH
Pliny goes on to describe other canine topics, including breeding. He claims that in India, the inhabitants breed dogs with tigers, while Gauls (modern France) cross dogs with wolves. He discusses gestation periods, puppy litters, and methods of determining which newborn puppy will turn out to be the "pick of the litter. " He also relates a lengthy anecdote about a huge hound given to Alexander the Great by the king of Albania. This dog was reportedly so ferocious that it could take down a lion or even an elephant. Alexander decided to test the claim, and the dog did not disappoint; it crushed the lion, and brought the elephant to the ground with a thunderous crash.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? cob: a breed of horse, asturco, which, according to Pliny [8. 166], does not display "the usual paces in run- ning but a smooth trot, straighten- ing the near and off-side legs alternately, from which the horses are taught by training to adopt an ambling pace. " [Pliny the Elder. Natural History 8. 166; tr. Rackham. ]
National Records: This is probably a reference to the acta diurna populi Romani, the "daily news of the Roman people," probably the clos- est that the Romans ever came to putting out a daily newspaper. Julius Caesar initiated the publica- tion of the acta during his consul- ship in 59 BCE. It was probably originally an account only of the official acts of the Roman senate and other government entities, but eventually it also included social news and information about other events. According to the his- torian Tacitus, the publication was read not only in Rome but throughout the provinces.
Steps of Lamentation: According to the lexicographers Lewis and Short, the Steps of Lamentation were "steps on the Aventine Hill [one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome] lead- ing to the Tiber [River], to which the bodies of executed criminals were dragged by hooks, to be thrown into the Tiber. "
Vulcatius, Cascellius: Vulcatius (alt. Vulcacius) Sedigitus was a second- century BCE poet and literary critic who compiled a "top ten" list of the greatest comic poets in the his- tory of Roman literature. The two names on the list most familiar to us today, Plautus and Terence, ranked second and sixth, respec- tively. Cascellius was a first- century BCE jurist and politician.
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Even in Ancient Rome, the Dog Was Man's--and Woman's--Best Friend
? ? ? ? TRIMALCHIO'S MUTT
In the fancifully lavish dinner party thrown by Trimalchio, the first-century CE buffoonish epicure described by the satirist Petronius in The Satyricon, an incident occurs where the host's outsized dog Scylax causes a scene. Trimalchio had noticed that one of the children who frequented his household was trying to force a half loaf of bread down the gullet of an enormously obese puppy; as fast as the child stuffed in the bread, the animal vomited it. Trimalchio, observing the drama, ordered to be brought in his own dog, Scylax, the praesidium domus familiaque, "guardian of my home and family. " He tossed the mutt a chunk of bread, adding that no one in the entire household was more devoted to him than the dog. That is when the trouble started.
The child, when he saw the attention and affection which Trimalchio lavished on Scylax, put his plump pup down on the floor, and egged it on to a confrontation with the master's dog. Naturally, Scylax took up the challenge, and, with a cacophony of barking, began pursuing his tormenter around the dining room. During the chase, the two canines managed to collide with a glass lampstand; they smashed the glass, and spilled hot oil (such lamps were fueled by burning olive oil) all over some of the guests.
Big-hearted Trimalchio ignored the melee, and the mess, and instead dipped into the exquisite buffet which adorned the dining room, inviting his guests to do likewise.
? ? ? ASK YOURSELF
1. What are some of the characteristics of dogs that--according to Pliny--set them apart from other animals?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e The Romans did not recognize the wide variety of dog breeds that we do today, but some breeds were distinctive. What were these? Was any one breed prized more highly than the others?
e Pliny attributes to dogs some characteristics that might be questionable, especially their incisive memory--"no creature [except for humans] has a longer memory"--and their inclination to leave off from attacking a per- son, if the person sits down on the ground. Are these characteristics accu- rately assigned to dogs? What about some of the other canine attributes he describes?
Further Information
Beagon, Mary. Roman Nature: The Thought of Pliny the Elder. Oxford, 1992.
Healy, John F. Pliny the Elder on Science and Technology. Oxford, 1999.
Murphy, Trevor Morgan. Pliny the Elder's Natural History: The Empire in the Encyclopedia.
Oxford, 2004.
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
16
Website
Names for Roman Dogs. http://www. unrv. com/culture/names-for-roman-dogs. php
Bibliography for Document
Lewis, Charlton T. and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary. London, 1879.
Rackham, H. (tr. ). Pliny: Natural History. Volume III. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London,
1940.
Sullivan, J. P. (tr. ). Petronius: The Satyricon and the Fragments. Baltimore, 1965.
4. A PREARRANGED MARRIAGE
INTRODUCTION
Roman marriages were sometimes prearranged, especially in the upper socioeconomic groups of citizens. Pliny the Younger wrote a letter to his friend Junius Mauricus, who was seeking a suitable husband for his niece. Pliny had the perfect candidate in mind!
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. This was not the only time in which Pliny had helped his friend Mauricus. He also offered to conduct a search for a tutor for the children of Mauricus's brother. Mauricus was exiled from Rome by the emperor Domitian in 93 CE, but was recalled five years later by the subsequent emperor, Nerva. It seems likely that Pliny wrote this letter early in the second century CE.
2. The document, about a marriage arrangement, gives us a window into the world of the wealthier Roman upper classes, and the manner in which they might go about the task of finding suitable spouses for their children. Did people of more modest means attempt to arrange marriages for their children in similar ways? Or at all? These questions are more difficult to answer.
Document: Pliny the Younger
as a Matchmaker
You request me to look for a husband for your niece, and it is fitting for you to give me this commission rather than anyone else. For you know how much I esteemed and loved that great man, her father, and with what encouragement he helped me in my youth, and how he caused me to appear to deserve the praises he used to bestow upon me. You could not give me a more important or more pleasant commission, nor could I undertake a more honorable task than to choose a young man worthy of begetting the grandchildren of Rusticus Arulenus [the brother of Mauricus].
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